Sustrate and Water needs: Blackthroat Monitors should always have water available. Keeping a water dish that is large enough for the entire lizard to submerse if need be is the best route to go. Substrate should be enough for the animal to burrow. You can achive a burrowing substrate by mixing a varity of organic soils with playsand and cypress mulch.
Lighting and UVB: There is no proven beneifit too using UVA/UVB bulbs with monitors as thier diet is considered a full meal. However, using this type of lighting certainly not hurt.
Temputures and humidity: These monitors are located in the savannah areas of africa. They do not require any intense humidity. The trick is using proper substrate.
Heating: Using a halogen flood lamp you can create an ambient temperture of 80-85 degrees and a basking area of 125-135 degrees.
Caging: For juviniles a 20 gallon tank will suffice. But beware, these reptile grow extremely fast considering they are kept in the proper conditions. A single adult can be housed comfortably in no smaller than a 6x3x3 enclousure.
Diet: as your monitor grows to large to feed him crickets,feed them pre-killed mice rat pups, hard boiled eggs,smelts, ground turkey, mighty dog canned dog food.
Maintenance: if you use dirt from outside the advantages are the bacteria that comes with the substrate. It breaks down any feces that your monitor leaves behind, ***ALWAYS*** provide clean water source, failing to do so can lead to health problems.
Photo credit: http://www.michiganreptilerescue.org
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